Steps to Recovery
by fallendarkkangel
Summary: Momo is a young new Therapist fresh out of college when she receives her new client Toshiro Hitsugaya, a troubled teen who lost his parents at a young age and now turn to the only family he has left a gang. Full Summary inside. Rating may change.
1. Prologue

**Chapter 1: Prologue**

Summary- Momo Hinamori is a twenty-two year old therapist fresh out of college. Everything was going great for her. She had a loving boyfriend and was about to start her career. When she received her first client Toshiro Hitsugaya, a nineteen year old troubled teen that lost both of his parents at a young age and bounced from foster home to foster home, now having turn to the only family he knows a gang, can he be transformed in to a model citizen or will the judge slam the gavel down on him and ruin the rest of his life. How much is young Momo willing to sacrifice to help this boy get on the right side of the law?

Disclaimer: I don't own bleach. Credit goes to Tite Kubo.

Life couldn't get any worse for nineteen year old Toshiro Hitsugaya. He was relieved when his eighteenth birthday came around. There were no more foster homes, no more broken promises from foster parents. He was free, free to make his own choices in life.

Looking back on his life, Toshiro wondered what he had ever done to deserve any of this. Nothing was his fault. His mother had died while in child birth with him and his father became a heavy drinker after that. Toshiro's father would never say it but he blamed Toshiro for the death of his wife. Though it was his own fault in a way. Mr. Hitsugaya failed to get his wife to the hospital fast enough, but it made him feel a little better to push the blame on his son.

Toshiro's father's alcohol addiction is what put Toshiro in foster care in the first place. It started out as him just going to the bar on Friday nights and leaving young Toshiro with a baby sitter. But then, it grew. He would go out three or four times a week, at least. Toshiro was usually left with a neighbor; she was a good sitter and was very kind to him. In fact, she was kind of like a mother figure to Toshiro considering he never had and she treated him like he was her own, but she was a single mother and had two young children of her own. Her daughter was about three years older than Toshiro, but they were inseparable and her son was about a year younger than him, but they didn't seem to bond as much.

This continued up until Toshiro started to attend school. His father was left with no other choice, but to pick up his son every day after school. So that cut into his drinking time at the local bar. To make up for lost time Mr. Hitsugaya would buy alcohol after work, (I know right shocker he works) then would proceed to pick up his son from school usually arriving a half an hour to an hour late. As soon as they got home, he would pull out the shot glasses and drink until he out on the couch.

Most of his money went into buying alcohol and cigarettes, leaving very little to spend on Toshiro. His father would also let some of the bills go unpaid, so during winter they went without heat and during the summer they went without air conditioning. The electric bill was the bill that was usually left unpaid. At the age of five, Toshiro was responsible for getting himself up in the morning considering that his father was too hung-over in the morning to care and pack his own lunch. He barely ever had any clean clothes to wear to school because his father was too lazy to wash his own son's clothes.

The teachers wondered about his living conditions at home, but never thought too much about it. It wasn't until bruises started appearing on him that the teachers took action. They called him into the office to question him as to how he had received the bruises. He simply said he "fell". That was his answer whenever he was questioned. This was complete lye.

Toshiro's father began to take his anger and frustration out on his son. With each passing day, Toshiro began to look more and more like his mother, with his snow white hair and his teal eyes. It killed his father every day to look at his own son. Every time he would look at his face he would see his wife's. It pained him and only made him drink more and more, to forget his own mistakes.

When Toshiro sat in the office, he knew his father was in a lot of trouble. He knew the counselors didn't believe his story and probably knew he was only covering for his father to prevent being taken away from his only remaining parent. The action the counselors and the social workers decided to was to remove him from that home. It was obvious that Mr. Hitsugaya had a serious alcohol addiction and become very violent when he was intoxicated. Mr. Hitsugaya did have a chance to gain custody of his son back provided that he completed a parent improvement program and attended an AA meeting (Alcoholics Anonymous) program regularly. The social workers decided not to throw him in jail because he had been in emotional anguish since his wife died, but taking it out on your child was no excuse.

Toshiro wasn't too happy to be leaving his father, even though he beat him, you can never hate your family. You may hate the things they d, but you can never hate them as a person.

The first few weeks were rough, adapting to group home life was even rougher. He lived in a group home with about twenty other children, but he had an advantage over the other children. He was young, so it was easier for him to find a foster family fast. Most foster parents were looking for younger children. The younger they were the easier it was to make them feel part of the family and they wouldn't remember their real family.

The first family he was fostered out to was a middle age couple, who had desperately wanted to have a child, but due to problems with his wife body they couldn't. They had been on a waiting list for a new born for over ten years, but had yet to receive one. Just as they were about to give up, they have seen Toshiro's profile and immediately adored him.

He lived with this family for about six years; this was the only family that had kept him for over two years. Toshiro was around ten when he started to act out and get into trouble with the law. It started out as small, petty crimes such as breaking curfew and being suspended from school, but then it got more serious such as shop lifting, pick pocketing, stealing from his foster parents, and breaking into neighbor's house and taking items of value.

After a while it took its toll on the couple, it pained them to give up on the poor boy, he had been through so much, but they could no longer deal with him. So he was sent back to the group home.

The other families weren't much better. Toshiro had seen them all, families who thought they could help him, families who promised they would help him and not give up on him, families who were only after the monthly check that they received from the government for taking a child out of the system, and families who just felt sorry for him and treated him like a pity case. That just made him sick the last thing he wanted was other people sympathy.

Living with foster families usually ended one of two ways. The first being the family would get sick of putting up with him or see that he was more trouble than the monthly check was worth and sent him back. Or the second way being that he would get sick of living with the "current family of the year" and run away. The police would usually capture him doing something illegal to stay alive and take him back to the group home.

During his stay with his second family he had received word that his father had passed away due to alcohol poisoning. It was ironic really, the whole purpose the social workers took Toshiro away from him was so he could straighten out his life, but in all reality, they only succeeded in taking away his little "problem" away from him. He could now drink everyday which ultimately led to his demise. What was ever stranger was the fact that upon hearing the news, Toshiro didn't feel any pain from losing his father. To Toshiro that man didn't deserve anything after the hell he put him through. In fact, he hated his father or at least he thought he did. In Toshiro's mind, if his father had straightened up and raised him right everything would have been perfect. Whatever hope was left that someday his father would come back for him died along with that man, even though Toshiro have abandon most of that hope long ago there still was a small amount left that hoped that they would be a family again.

Toshiro only got worse as he got older. He got involved in drugs, street brawls, underage drinking, and robbery. The judge always took it easy on him because of his shaky upbringing, but this only show the young boy that there were little consequences for his actions.

When he was staying with his last family, he felt relieved not only because his eighteenth birthday was less than a month away, but because this family just didn't care. They had a child of their own plus a child they had adopted. The mother worked two jobs just to make ends meet while the father was put on disability when he threw out his back on his construction job. Toshiro's foster father was probably almost as bad as he was. He would lose a lot of his money through gambling, and he even sold drugs on the side. On occasions, he would encourage Toshiro to find him new customers.

When his eighteenth birthday finally came around, he left. He already had it all figured out. Toshiro had previously joined a gang when he was sixteen, and had already made arrangements to stay with them once he turned the legal age of eighteen.

They stayed in a fairly large house, it was a bit rundown, but was still in a decent enough shape to live in. The house was located in the "bad" section of the city where all the "undesirables" lived. The gang leader was a man by the name of Kenpachi, he owned the house. Anyone he deemed worth "fighting" was welcome to stay. Toshiro was one of Kenpachi's four most trusted members, along with Renji, (I promise I won't kill him this time, you would have had to read my other story to get this) Ikkaku, and Yumichika.

To Toshiro this was the closest thing to a family he ever had. They didn't judge (except for one's fighting ability) and there was only one expectation. Follow the orders and don't ever fail Kenpachi. It was that simple, but it was so much more than that to Toshiro, it was a place where he was welcome, a place where he fit in.

Everything was perfect up until about two months after his nineteenth birthday. It was the day he got arrested. It wasn't like he had never been arrested before. He had been arrested too many times to count in the past, but it was the first time the judge wasn't going to take it easy on him, like he had in the past.

Toshiro had been arrested for breaking into a television warehouse, under Kenpachi order. Ikkaku, Yumichika, and Renji were also ordered to accompany him. The gang needed more funding and the easiest way to get it was to sell stolen goods. It was risky, but they had never been caught before so why would it be any different tonight. Toshiro was the lookout man, while Renji, Ikkaku, and Yumichika were inside looting. Upon their entry into the warehouse they triggered a silent alarm that was sent to the nearest police department.

When the police arrived at the warehouse they quickly apprehended Toshiro, while the rest of them made their escape, but that's what it meant to be in a gang, if the occasion called for it one person would have to take the fall for the rest of the group.

Toshiro spent one night in jail, awaiting his hearing the next morning. It would usually play out like this, he would spend one or two nights in prison, and then he would be sent on his own recon after his hearing, but this time if felt different. He wasn't offered his one phone call and he was put in an actual cell, not just a holding cell. (Don't know the difference, but they are different somehow).

As he stood in front of the judge, listening to the bailiff reading off his charges, he couldn't help but feel a little bit uneasy. Maybe it was because he hadn't been in a court room for a while, but the other more reasonable side of him knew it was because of the glare he was receiving from Judge Yamamoto. It was so bad he couldn't even make eye contact.

Judge Yamamoto had been the Judge that had presided over all Toshiro's hearings in the past. The judge took the fact that the younger teenage hadn't been in a court room for almost two years as a good sign, maybe he was finally straightening up his life, but seeing him here today back in the court room showed him just how wrong he was. It was time to stop treating him like a child. In the past he had been lenient on him and let him off easy because of his upbringing, but now he was out of control. He had given Toshiro community service thinking it would deter him from committing anymore crimes, but Toshiro in turn would refuse to complete the hours assigned to him, leaving the Judge with no other choice but to drop the hours not wanting to drag the case back into court. That was the only punishment he had ever received, but it proved worthless since he only repeated his crimes.

After the charges were read aloud, the Judge spoke in his booming voice. "Toshiro, have you not learned a thing?"

Toshiro cringed a bit at the hostility in his voice, but offered no answer; instead he simply put his head down in an attempt to avoid eye contact.

The Judge let out a long drawn out sigh. _What would it take to get through to this boy?_ "In the past, I have let your crimes go unpunished because of the way you were brought up, but I can no longer do so. In seven months I will be retiring. I will not leave you to be another Judge's pity case." Toshiro would never admit it, but it hurt a little to be called a "pity case" straight to your face. "You have exactly six months to straighten up your life. I am ordering you to see a therapist, three times a week. The visits are mandatory, not optional and if, for any reason you skip a session or your assigned therapist thinks you have made no progress: you're going to spend the next twenty years in prison." He slammed his gavel down. "Court dismissed."

Toshiro had a really bad feeling that the Judge was serious this time; there would be no second chances. Just one bad review from this therapist and he would spend the next twenty years locked up and twenty years was a long time.

"I can't believe it, my first day on the job!" Momo exclaimed with clear excitement in her voice.

"I know! Finally some life in this boring office." Rangiku giggled.

"It didn't seem that long ago that I majored in college, and now I'm an actual therapist." Momo said.

"Yeah, you finally get to help people just like you always wanted." Rangiku responded. "So who is your new client anyway?"

"New client? I haven't been assigned one yet."

"Jushiro hasn't talk to you yet? It was a court order. I believe he left the kids file on your desk." Rangiku replied.

"Thank you, Rangiku; I'm going to go check." Momo said as she walked toward her office. Sure enough there was a manila folder lying on her unorganized desk. She had been at the office for a couple hours, but she spent most of her time talking with Rangiku and very little time actually unpacking. So much for taking her first day getting her office organized. She signed as she sat down and opened the folder.

Inside was a picture of a young boy with white hair and teal eye. _Toshiro Hitsugaya huh? This is my new client he looks like a high school student._ The profile contained a bit of his upbringing as well as his criminal record. It was three full pages of various crimes. While Momo felt disgusted with the fact that he was so young, yet he had committed so many crimes, but at the same time she kind of felt sorry for him. So many people had just given up on him, but using your upbringing as an excuse to commit crimes was unacceptable in her eyes. Glancing back at his picture he seemed so familiar, but she couldn't remember where she had seen him before. _Just who is this boy to me?_

A knock at the door frame pulled Momo's attention to the man standing in the door way. "I see you've found out about your first client." Momo didn't know his name or even what floor he worked on, but she nodded in response. "Court ordered that has to suck."

"Why's that?" Momo questioned.

"Because he'll only go to the session for fear of being sent to jail. He doesn't really want help. Sorry we all pushed him on you, but we all have seniority over you, If only you had come a week later he might have been pushed off on me."

"He doesn't seem that bad." Momo said glancing back over at the boy's profile.

"Are you kidding? He's got a criminal record a mile long. He's a lost cause. He has even been here before. His foster parents brought him here to find the root cause of all his anger. He didn't say a single word to the therapist then and he ain't gonna talk now. Hell, the faster you give the call the fast he will be behind bars and the less time of yours he will waste. You want to get on with your career as quickly as possible. You ain't gonna get good rep working with a charity case like him." The man stated.

"Well I don't care that much about reputation; I just want to help people. If you read his profile, so many people just gave up on him. It's depressing. I'm not going to give up on him, and I'm going to try my best to help him get his life on track." She vowed.

"That's up to you. I wouldn't waste my time with him. Maybe a couple years in the slammer will do him so good, seeing how nothing else has worked."

"When's our first session?" Momo inquired.

"Tomorrow morning at ten I believe. Well I'll leave you to finish unpacking your office."

"Okay, thank you…?"

"Ichigo. I work on the second floor." The orange haired man stated.

"Nice to meet you Ichigo. See you later."

Ichigo did seem like a nice guy and all, but calling Toshiro a charity case was going a bit far. With the right guidance Momo believed she could turn him into a model citizen.

Later that day…

Momo was exhausted, unpacking her office took a lot longer then she thought. Plus she had Rangiku distracting her every five minutes.

She lived in an apartment in the upper class side of the city with her boyfriend. Izura Kira. They had been dating since freshman year of college. He worked for his father as an auto mechanic. Kira was very supportive of Momo; throughout her four years of college and late nights of study (I think it more like 8 years of college to become a therapist not sure, but whatever it's a fanfiction).

"I'm home." Momo said as she put her jacket on the table. (For the record I'm setting this around February.)

"In the living room." Another voice sounded.

A smile crept onto Momo's face as she walked into the living room. Kira was sitting on the couch watching TV. Momo crawled up next to him and snuggled up into his side. He in turn wrapped his arm around her and gave her a kiss, welcoming her home.

"How was your first day on the job?" He asked, as he resumed watching television.

"It was fine, though I didn't get much work done thanks to Rangiku." Momo smiled. "But I'm glad I know somebody at the office."

Kira laughed. "That sounds like her, but make sure she doesn't get you fired. You worked too hard to get where you're at today."

"I know she won't. Anyway I got my first client today." Momo stated excitedly.

"Really? Already? That was fast. Anyone we know?'

"No, he's To… wait I'm not supposed to tell anyone about the identity of my clients. It's all confidential; I could lose my job if I told anyone. What I can tell you is it was court order. I get to make the final decision if he goes to jail or not. But I'm sure I can help him." Momo replied in her usual optimistic way.

"He sounds like a lost cause, if you ask me. If it was court ordered he probably doesn't want help. Don't spend all your effort on him, save it for people who really want help and be careful he's a criminal." Kira responded coolly.

_Why does everyone keep calling him a lost cause?_ "Well deep down he might actually want help, you never know. I'm not giving up on him, he had a troubled childhood." Momo said a little irritated. "Well anyway I start my first session with him tomorrow at ten."

"So what's for dinner? I'm starving." Kira asked changing to subject. Honestly he was sick of her talking about work.

Author notes- Okay so I finally posted another story and if u r wondering about my other one Witness Protection I'm kind of at a loss with that one I lost the book that I wrote it in and I had a case of writers block and don't know where to go with it so it's temporarily suspended until I know what to do with it. Any suggestions will be appreciated from any readers who read the story so far. Any this story kind of sucks I wrote it back in December during midterms and just haven't posted it yet, so I decided to get it out there and see what the readers think and if its wroth continuing then I'll write another chapter but it's all up to you guys. Thanks for reading and please review.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Night Before the Reckoning **

Sorry about the long wait I got laid off and I've been busy looking for a new job, haven't found one yet : / but I've had a couple interviews. And besides that school has started and all this family stuff so I'm back to writing again. But some good news is I might have an idea for witness protection so I'll keep you guys updated on that but I will finish this story first.

Disclaimer: I don't own bleach. Credit goes to Tite Kubo.

* * *

Toshiro walked through the streets of the empty city. He had been released on his own recon several hours after his hearing, but he put off returning "home" just in case they would have followed him. The cops weren't that stupid, they knew there were others involved, but they didn't know who they were and where they lived. A sudden breeze caused Toshiro to put his hood up. It was very chilly tonight. There was hardly anyone walking the streets tonight, but that was to but expected. You would have to be crazy to walk there streets alone at night. There was so much crime in this part of the city; after the sun sets the streets were ruled by gangs and drug dealers. When he finally approached the house, he walked in to find Renji sitting on the couch.

Renji turned his attention to the door, to see who had just walked in. Upon seeing Toshiro he jumped up as if he had seen a ghost. "Toshiro?"

"Yea." Was the teen's response. He wasn't a person of many words unlike the red head. He rarely spoke to anyone. He then walked over to sit on the couch and Renji joined him.

"Dude, we all thought they sent you away; I mean you were gone so damn long, so what did they give ya. Probation or community service?" The red head laughed. "I swear when will they ever learn you ain't going change for nobody."

"Six months of therapy." Toshiro answered as the stress of the day finally settled in, the teen wasn't stupid the judge had had enough of him, this was the last straw. His moves in therapy would determine how he lived the rest of his life.

"Therapy?" Renji restated. "That's new, but hell it could have been a lot worse all you gotta do is try out your acting skills."

"Yea, but it's worse than it sounds, but after six months of this shit I'm done with it." Toshiro stated. "Well anyway I need to talk to Kenpachi, it ain't safe for me to be hanging 'round here with the damn cops and my therapists checking in on me."

"I think he's downstairs sparring. Are you leaving for good?" Renji asked with a bit of worry in his voice. Even thought Toshiro was a cold individual, he was still family and it hurts to see your family walk away.

"Nah, it'll only be until this therapy shit is over with, I'll be back."

"So where you thinking of staying?" Renji looked concerned this was home or the close thing to it that any of them had.

"That's why I wanted to talk to Kenpachi, he's got connections, and maybe he could hook me up with a place." Toshiro sighed. He really didn't really want to leave, but there wasn't many options there for him.

"So when you gotta see this therapist anyway?"

"Tomorrow at ten. It sucks, I think I would have preferred community service or probation over this any day. Therapy is gonna be rough." Toshiro said with a sigh.

"Just skip it, I mean what's the worse they can do ya." Renji drunkenly stated. The alcohol from earlier was starting to hit him now.

"They are gonna send me to jail…" Toshiro's voice fated a bit, as if the whole reality of just how much he screwed up this time hit him like a ton of bricks. He would never admit it, but he was really starting to get scared.

"How long?" Renji himself was surprised the judge was willing to go that far, they never hurt no one, they did what they had to, to get by.

"Up to twenty years maybe longer…no probably longer."

"Is there any way to lessen your sentence? I mean that's a bit much for a petty theft charge. I mean you're still just a freaking kid. Just what the hell was that damn judge thinking giving you that much time?"

" I dunno… they told me if I turned you guys in, I might get less time, but I would never betray my family. Cuz if you can't trust your family who can you trust? I might as well get this therapy shit over with, it doesn't sound too bad, but for tonight I don't wanna think bout it." With that said Toshiro pulled out a bowl and a dime bag out of his pocket, while Renji grab the bottle of Sake.

For tonight the teen would be free of his worries for a while. In the morning he would have to face reality and straighten things out with Kenpachi and get this therapy bit over with.

* * *

It was late, yet Momo couldn't sleep even though she was dead tired and had an early morning. She was too excited with her new client, even with everyone telling her to give up on him, she was determined as ever to help him.

It was going on one in the morning; Momo was still sitting at her desk, scanning the boys file. In her mind there had to be something that would help her rehabilitate this teen. As she was about to scan his file for the thirteenth time that night, she felt a pair of hands fall on her shoulders and a chaste kiss was passed on her cheek.

"Aren't you coming to bed?" Her boyfriend of four years asked her in a sleepy voice. Momo turned around and gave him a short peck on the lips and smiled as she pulled away.

"I'll be in there in a minute." She replied as she turned back to steal another peek at his file on the desk.

"O come on Momo, you've been at it most of the night now, come on to bed." Kira sighed as she had yet to peel her eyes off the file. He draped his arms around her neck and pulled her close to him. The he whispered. "And besides I thought we could start working on that little girl you want so badly tonight."

The peach's eyes widen slightly. "But we…we aren't even married yet." She stammered.

"Momo you don't have to be married to have children, people do it all the time." Will that said Kira brushed her hair out of the way and started to nip and kiss her on the neck, while tugging at the hem of her shirt.

She had to admit she loved Kira, but they still an uncertain future. They had only decided to finally move in with each other last year after Momo's little brother passed away, but still nothing was carved in stone and that's what scared her the most. While pushing his hands away she said breathlessly. "Wait…" Kira pulled away slightly.

"What?"

"I don't think I am ready… to become a parent just yet. I don't think either of us are ready for that yet, maybe in a couple years, but not now."

"Well I think we are both more than ready, I mean we have our own place and we got stable careers. And besides what was the point of getting an apartment with an extra bedroom, if we aren't going to use it. With that he continued his current actions.

Once again Momo pulled away slightly. "What now?" The blonde asked in a flustered tone.

The peach was slightly taken back by his tone. "Well I just started my career, how would it make me look if I went on maternity leave a few months after being hired on. They might fire me. Then how will we raise the baby you know your income alone won't support three people, it can barely support two." A sigh of relief escaped her as Kira pulled away completely.

"Get to bed soon or you'll be late in the morning." He walked off into the back bedroom. Kira was honestly sick of waiting for her they had been waiting for her for four years to be ready to take relationship to the next level.

Momo only nodded and resume looking at the teens file, blocking the previous event's out of her mind.

* * *

Author notes- Okay I know not much happened in this chapter that was important to the story's plot. I'll have another chapter up within a week and have this story back on track I promise. Thanks for reading a please review.


	3. Chapter 3

Hey guys, I'm back. I have gotten a lot of great reviews in the past couple month for this story, I had actually given up hope on considering I don't get much feedback from reader so I was going to trash it and maybe start writing about another pairing. But I was going through my emails and I saw I got a couple more reviews and messages asking me if I was going to continue this story. Well I will apologize for the delay but I will start writing it again so hopefully I can get another chapter up either tonight or tomorrow morning. I thank all the people that review chapter two and for giving me a reason to finish this story. As for my other story Witness protection… that was a terrible story and I did trash that one completely. Sorry for those of you who enjoyed reading that one.

-Angel


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